Public urination, “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” and being sleazy are topics of interest for Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari.
This and other admissions were heard on a conference call Wednesday evening with the stars of the NBC show “Parks and Recreation.” Poehler and Ansari are entering their second season of the mockumentary, which follows local government in Pawnee, Ind., as they work toward turning an abandoned construction pit into a community park.
Poehler, who is best known for her skits on “Saturday Night Live” as well as roles in movies such as “Baby Mama” and “Mean Girls,” said she is excited to dig in to her character and be able to concentrate on playing one person for an extended period of time.
Ansari and Poehler kept the laughs coming during the conference call as they covered their recommendations for acting, what’s new this season and what they do in their personal lives.
Q: The characters on “Parks and Recreation” are a little oblivious to how other people see them, and blow things out of proportion. How do you approach working on a character who is a lovable loser?
Aziz Ansari: Listen to what Daniel Day Lewis said on the commentary on “There Will Be Blood”; that’s the same technique. That’s why I’m going to win an Academy Award this year.
Amy Poehler: He might win an Academy Award, but I’m going to win a comedy award.
Q: You’re still getting started with these characters with just six episodes before going into the second season. Do you know them through and through? Is there a learning process?
Amy Poehler: We just had a seasonette, so we’re still getting into the groove. I feel really excited about this season because we’re all figuring out who we are and what we’re supposed to be. It’s a constant learning process.
Q: The show is often compared to “The Office.” Do you hope that goes away so that you aren’t living under a shadow?
Amy: We are both huge fans of “The Office,” so any time we’re mentioned in the same sentence it’s a compliment. But this season people will see how it’s different in its own way. I hope we get compared to “Man Vs. Wild.”
Q: If Leslie (Amy Poehler’s character) was president of the U.S.A., what’s the first thing she would do?
Amy: She would reclaim urban areas and developed areas and make giant central parks in every city, every state. She’d make it really green. She’d have mandatory dance parties in public schools.
Q: Are there going to be any hard-hitting topics in the upcoming season?
Amy: Every single episode will have life, death, happiness, sadness, re-birth, redemption and a very clear conclusion, in 21 minutes. I don’t want to overreach, but I think that will happen.
Q: How would Tom (Aziz Ansari’s character) fit into real world politics?
Aziz: He would do pretty well. He’s pretty ambitious and sleazy. I’d say he’d be okay because he’s a pretty determined, focused dude. He’s also a douche bag.
Q: Is there anything else besides acting you’d like to try your hand at?
Amy: I don’t know if it’s too late but I think I’d like to develop software that will make you very rich.
Q: What do you do in your spare time?
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Aziz: I’ve gotten into street racing like in “Fast and the Furious,” like Tokyo drifting. It’s an exciting time.
Amy: Yeah, a lot of people don’t know that movie is about your life.
Q: Do you think you personally could hack it in a local government kind of job?
Amy: I couldn’t handle the lighting. It would wear me down.
Aziz: If you’re actually trying to get something done, like trying to build a park or something, I’d initially try to do something. Then I’d just talk to friends on Gmail.
Amy: But they really do so much for so many people; they’re heroes. It’s a highly respectable job that we poke constant fun at all the time.
Q: Have you had your own run-ins with local government?
Aziz: It’s a long struggle that we keep getting tickets for public urination.
Amy: Whenever we go in to pay the tickets we go in and start public urinating again. It’s a vicious cycle.
Q: What’s it like focusing on one person instead of several characters on “Saturday Night Live”?
Amy: It’s been awesome to settle in and play someone and figure out how they’d act and behave. It’s great on SNL how versatile it is, but the character is always very transient. It’s great to play someone I believe could actually exist in the world.
Q: Do you have any kinds of rituals or methods you use to calm your nerves before going on camera?
Amy: Well, I usually pull a production assistant aside and yell at them. I always pretend that I’ve quit and make a big deal and stomp off the set. Then I take a three-hour nap and have cameras wait for me. The first take of every scene I do backward to throw everyone off. I take another nap, then I have a double who does my scenes, action scenes and stuff like that.
Aziz: I do the same thing but I’m doing pushups the entire time.
